Knitting-machine



(NoModel.) 4 Sheets-Sheet, 1.

S. HENSHALL.

KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 386,819. Patented July 31, 1888.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2,

- S. HENSHALL.

KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 386,819. Patented July 31, 1888.

I s A m f f/l N. PETERS, Pmm-numgrapn.rv wzuungmn. un

(No Model.) I 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

' S. HENSHALL.

KNIT-UNG MAG-EINE.

N. PETERS. Phumlhasnphnr. wnhingxnn. D. C

(No Model.) v Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

- S. HENSHALL.

KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 386,819. Pim nted July 31, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL HENSHALL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA'.

KNITTINGil MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,819, dated July 31, 1888.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

- Beit known that I, SAMUEL HENsHALr., a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. have invented certain Improvements in Knitting-llIachines, of which the following is a specitication.

My invention relates to a knitting-machine of the same general character as that for which I tiled application for Letters Patent of the United States on the 6th day of October, 188i, Serial No'. 144,957; renewed March 12, 1886, Serial N o. 195,038.

The objects of my present invention are to simplify, in a measure, the construction of the machine and to perfect the operation of certain portions of the same.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a circular-knitting machine with my improvements; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the same without the needle-cylinder; Fig. 3, an end view of the machine on a reduced scale and illustrating features of the invention not shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4, a sectional plan 011 theline 12, Fig. 3; and Figs. 5 to 20, inclusive, detached views illustrating the construction of certain portions of the machine.

Ais the fixed frame of the machine, on which are suitable bearings for the main or driving shaft B and for the needle-cylinder D and cam-box F;

The lower end of the needle-cylinder is provided With a bevel-Wheel, a, gearing into a bevel-pinion, c', on the shaft B, which is also provided with another bevel-pinion, Z1, adapted to gear into a bevel-wheel, b', on a shaft, c, which has a bearing in a bracket, c', on the frame A, and is provided with a spur-wheel, d, gearing into an annular rack, d', on the cam-box F. The `shaft B is movable in its bearings, so that either of the pinions thereon may be thrown into gear with its respective bevel-Wheel, and rotary movement may thereby be imparted either to the needle-cylinder or cam-box, a bolt, e, serving to lock the cylinder to the fixed frame when the cam-box is being rotated, and a bolt, e', serving to lock the cam-box to the fixed frame when rotary movement is being imparted to the cylinder. The machine has a central fixed cam, G, and opposite cams, G', carried by guided slides GZ, which are acted on by armsf, each provided with a pivoted toe, f', under control of ribbed bars w, carried by rings h h', adapted to a recess in the lower portion of the frame A, the rings and bars being operated so as to expand and contract the rib, and thus determine the operation of the needles, as in my former machine above alluded to. In the former case, however, the rings were adapted to a recess in the needle-cylinder and rotated with the same, so as to cause friction even when the ribbed bars were not in action-21s, for instance, when the cylinder was rotated continuously in the saine direction in the production of a knitted tube. In the present machine the rings have no rotating movement with the cylinder, the latter being thrown out of action when it is desired to form a heel or toe upon a knitted tube, and a reciprocating movement being imparted to the cam-ring, so as to carry the toesf of the arms f over the ribbed bars, instead of moving said bars beneath the toes, as in the former machine.

In order to prevent the stretching of the work upon the needles not in action when forming the toe or heel upon a knitted tube, I provide for the automatic release ofthe drawingdown cams i i after they have effected the proper downward movementof the last needle -of the set which is in action, this automatic release of the drawing-down cams being effected by placing the same under the control of levers H, hung to pins t" on the cam-box and acted upon by the ribbed bars which act upon the toes of the arms f. As long as the lever is under control of the rib, the drawing-down cam will be held in the depressed position, as shown in Fig. l2; but as soon as the lever' passes from under the control of the rib it permits the elevation of the cam i, by reason of its springj, as shown in Fig. 13.

The lever may act upon a pin projecting directly from the slide i2 of the cam z',- but it is preferable to cause the lever to act upoira projecting end of the cam-spring j', as shown, so that if there is any obstacle to the descent of the cam the spring will yield and prevent breaking of the parts.

The rings h h', which carry the ribbed bars for operating the cams, are, as in the former machine, provided with racks m, gearing into spur-Wheels m on a shaft, J, the rack of one ring being internal and that of the other external, so that as the shaft J is rotated movement in opposite directions will be imparted IOO to the two rings, this movement effecting the expansion or contraction of the bars carrying the rib for operating the cams, as fully set forth in my former application.

The shaft J is adapted to bearings in aframe, K, which'is screwed or otherwise securedto the under side of the frame A` the opening in the latter being large enough to permit the spur-gears m to be passed up from below into gear with the racks m, so that no accurate fitting is required, such as would be necessary if the shaft J had a bearing in the frame A.

The frame K in the present machineis simply secured to the frame A in the position whichitassumes when thespur-gearsareproperly meshed with the racks of the-ringsh h'. The frame K also carries the gearing whereby movement is imparted to the shaft J for the purpose of operating the rings h h'.

To the shaftJ aresecured tworatchet-wheels, n and n', one right-handed and the other lefthanded, and hung to the shaft is a swinging frame, M, having an operating-handle, M', andlhaving a pin, k, to which are hung two pawls, p p', one for the wheel u and the other` for the wheel a', each pawl being-acted upon by a spring,p2, which tends to keep it in engagement with its respective ratchet-wheel. The frame M also carries a pin, 7c', on which are two cams, r r', the former being adapted to act on a toe of the pawl p, while the cam r is adapted to act upon a toe of the pawl p'the effect of this action being to remove the pawl from engagement with its ratchet-Wheel, but the cams being such that when one pawl is under control of one of said cams the other pawl will be free from the control of the other cam.

The frame Mis vihrated by the attendant to an extent permitted by the contact of projections s upon said frame with stops s' upon the frame K, -so as to impart movement to a like extent to one of the ratchet-wheels n n', the,

direction of the movement `thereby imparted to the shaft J dependingupon which of the pawls p p is in engagement with its ratchetwheel, and this in turn being determinedby the adjustment of the pin 7c'.

The ratchet-wheel n has a retaining-pawl, u, and the wheel n' a similar pawl, u', these pawls being carried, respectively, by shafts fv v', adapted to hearings in the frame K, and having arms q q', acted upon by a cam, q2, free to turn on the lower portion of the shat'tJ, this cam having a segmental rack, o, which is in .gear with a similar rack, o', secured to the lower end of the pink', and provided with a handle, o2, by which it may be operated, the effect of this construction being to throw the retainingpawl into gear with each ratchet wheel as the operating-pawl is thrown into gear therewith.

In order to properly feed the thread to the needles of the machine, it is necessary that the thread-guide should he in advance of the needles as they rise to take the thread; hence it is necessary to shift the position of the threadguide at the commencementof each reciproeating movement of the machine when the latter is forming the heel or toe portion upon a knitted tube. I therefore mount the guide P upon a segmental bar, P', secured to the camring F, a pin, fw', on the guide being under control ofa bar, Q, which is guided on a pivotedA plate, Q', and is acted upon by a spring,

Q2, the tendency 'of which is to maintain the I toothed front end of the bar in engagement with the notched head R of the needle-cylinder. As a result of this construction, the le- Ver formed by the sliding har Q and pivoted plate Q' will be shifted in one directionor the 'other on each change in thedirection of movement of the machine, and the thread-guide P will be moved on the bar P', so as to keep the thread constantly in advance of the rising needles on either movement.

It is not necessary that the lever controlling the thread-guide should be formed of a sliding bar and pivoted plate, as the plate Q itself may, if desired, constitute a lever controlling the threadguide,the inner end of the plate being acted upon directly by the needle-cylinder, and its outer end forming a bearing for the spring Q2, the plate being slotted for the reception ot' the pivot-pin, as shown in Fig. 15; ,or the plate constructed in this way, so as to constitute a lever, may .itself carry the thread-guide, as shown in Fig. 16; but the use of an independent thread-guide carried by a segmental bar is preferred.

Thework is Iprevented from rising on t-he needles -by means of rollers 1 2, one of which acts on the work in advance of the ascending needles and the other in the rear of the descending needles. The roller 1 is Vcarried by a stud, 3, on aslee've, 4, which is guided in a tube, 5, supported by brackets 6 above the needle-cylinder, the sleeve being acted upon by a spring, 7,which tends to depress the same to an extent permitted by contact of a collar, 8,on the sleeve with the upper end ofthe tube 5'. The roller 2 is carried by a stud, g, on a rod, 10, which is guided in the sleeve 4, and is acted upon by a spring, 11, Vertical play of the rod in the sleeve to an extent limited bya pin, 12, andslot 13 being thus permitted. 8 has a lug, 14, adapted to a recess, 15, in the tube 5, the recess being of slight-ly greater width thanthelug, so as to provide for lost motion on each change in the direction of movement of the machine, thus permitting the roller which follows the descending needles on one movement of the machine to assume a proper position in respect to the ascending needles ou the succeeding movement in the reverse direction. The rollers are preferably clothed with rubber or other yielding material, and are independent of each other in their pressing action, owing Vto theyielding connection between the rod 10 and sleeve 4. Thel needle-cylinder D is tapered, as in the former machine, so as to provide ample room for the cam-operating devices below the cam ring without corresponding coarseness in the gage of the machine. If the cylinder is in `one piece, however, as in the former machine, there IOO The collar ISO can be no adjustment for the purpose of regulating the slack ness of the work; hence I provide the cylinder in my present machine with an independent head, R, which can be adj usted vertically in respect to the main cylinder, this adjustment being effected in the present instance by the engagement of the threaded lower end of said head with the threaded upper end of a sleeve, R, vertically confined to the cylinder D, but free to turn therein,the head Rbeing prevented from turning by splines R2, as shown in Figs. 1 and 18, so that the rotation of the sleeve It will effect the raising` or lowering` of said head R. I do not, however, desire to limit myself to this particular means of adjusting the head, as other means of adjustment are available; for instance, the head R may be adjusted by means of set-screws, as shown in Fig. 19, or other means of adj ustment., such as will readily sug gest themselves to those familiar with this class of machinery, may be employed.

The widening and narrowing operation can be performed upon either half or upon both halves of the tube which is formed in the machine. rIhus after performing the operation upon one half of the tube the cam-ring may be released from the driving-shaft and the needle-cylinder unlocked from the fixed frame, turned to the extent of half a revolution, and again locked to the frame by the engagement ofthe bolt e with an opening opposite the first. (See Fig. l.)

The frame A carries an adjustable pin, x, the inner end of which projects into an annular recess in said frame, and serves by contact with pins carried by the outer ring, h, to limit the extent of movement of said ring. and consequently determinethelimits ofthe widening and narrowing operation, and these limits may be governed by adjusting the pins nearer to or farther from each other, the ring h being provided with a number of openings for this purpose. (See reduced view, Fig. 20.)

In order to provide for taking up the slack of the thread when the machine is being re ciprocated to effect the widening or narrow74 ingof the toe or heel portion of the tube, I use an ordinary spring take up, S; but in order to prevent said take-11 p from drawing from the spool instead of taking up the slack at the feeder, I combine with the same a lever, S, having opposite bent ends, in which are eyes for the passage of the thread, the latter rst passing` over a plate, T, adjacent to one endof the lever.

So long as there is proper tension on the thread between the spool and the plate T, the levens is held in the position shown in Fig. 8, and thus provides a straight course for-the thread; but as soon as the latter com mences to run loose from the spool the lever assumes the position shown in Fig. 3, causing an abrupt bend in the course of the threadfrom the plate T to the eye in the inner end of the lever and imparting such tension to said thread that the secured thereto by means of bolts.

spring will not draw upon the same in preference to taking up the slack at the feeder.

It is advisable to provide for the automatic stoppage of the machine aftera certain length of plain tubular fabric has been produced and a point has been reached where the formation of a toe or heel portion upon the tube is necessary. This automatic stopping of the machine I effect. by means of devices shown in Figs. 3, 4, 10, and Il.

The driving-shaftB of the machine is driven by spur-gears B and B2 from a counter-shaft, C, on which are the usual fast and loose pulleys, C' and Cf. A belt-shifter, T, is carried by a rod, T2, suitably guided on the fixed frame of the machine and acted upon by a spring. T3. Vhen the machine is ruiming, this rod Tf is held in the position shown in Fig. 4, so as to direct the drivingbelt to the fast pulley C', a catch-lever, U, engaging with a no tch inthe end ofthe rod 'IZ to retain it in this position. When the lever U is tripped', however, so as to release the rod, the spring T3 drives said rod inward and the shifter T carries the belt from the fast pulley to the loose pulley, thus` stopping the machine.

In order to effect the automatic tripping of the lever U, I mount in bearings in a frame, V, at one side of the machine a screw-shaft, WV, aratchet-wheel, V, on which is acted upon by a pawl, W, carried by au arm, NV, hung loosely to the screw-shaft and acted upon by a spring, V, and by a toe, W", on the needlecylinder. so that on each rotation ofthe latter the ratchetwheel will be moved to the extent of one or more teeth.

Free to slideon the screwstem YV is asleeve, X, having levers X', the upper arms of which are threaded for adaptation tothe screw-shat't V, these levers being acted upon by springs X2, which tend to keep the threaded arms in engagement with said screw-shaft. By depressing the lower arms of the levers, however, the threaded upper arms of the same are removed from engagement with the screwshaft, so that the sleeve X can be adjusted by hand to any desired position thereon, the threaded arms of the levers forming in effect a releasing nut. The sleeve descends the screw-shaft W as the latter is turned by the action of the pawl-andratchet mechanism under contro'l ofthe needle cylinder, this movementcontinuing until at a certain point in the descent a bar, Y, carried by the sleeve,strikes the lever U and trips the same, so as to release the shifting-rod. The length of plain fabric produced by the machine therefore depends upon the position to which the nut is adjusted above the knocking-oft' point-,and for the guidance of the attendant in effecting this adjustment the frame V is graduated and the sleeve X has a pointer, V', asshown in Fig. 3.

It will be observed on reference to Fig. l that the upper portion, D', of the cylinder D is not in one piece with the lower portion, but By this ICO IIO

means the upper portion of the cylinder, in which are the grooves for the guidance of the needles, can be made of steel or other metal capable of resisting wear, while the lower por- 5 tion of the cylinder may be made of cast-iron.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination of the fixed frame of the machine, the needle cylinder, and cam box, each capable of rotation, a cam-controlling rib 1o guided in the fixed portion of the frame, means for expanding and contracting said rib, devices whereby the rib is caused to act upon the cams. and gearing whereby either the needle-cylinder or cam-box can be rotated, all

I5 substantially as specified.

2. ,The combination of the needlecylinder and its needles, the cani-box and its needle elevating and drawing down cams, a cam-controlling rib, and means for expanding and con- 2o tracting the same, and devices, substantially as specified, whereby said rib is caused to act upon both the liftihgarfd drawing-down cams, all substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the rings h h', the

frame K, the shaft J, having pinions m and right and left ratchet-wheels n n', and the swinging frame M, having paivls adapted to said ratchet-wheels, and cams for acting upon said pawls to throw them out of gear, as speci 3o fied.

4. The combination of the shaft J and its right and left ratchet-wheels, the frame K, retai ning-pawls for the ratchetwheels, theswinging frame M, having operating-pawls there- 3,5 for, cams foracting upon the operating and retaining pawls, and gearing for operating said-cams in unison, all substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the needle-carrier and 4o cam-box of the machine, the shifting threadguide, a slotted operating-lever connected to Said thread-guide and engaging with the needle-carrier, a spring acting on said lever, and a pivot-pin adapted to the. slot of the lever,

all substantially as specified.

6. The combination ofthe needle-cylinder, the segmental guide-bar adjacent' thereto, a thread-guide adjustable on said bar, a slotted lever connected to said guide and engaging 5o with the needle-cylinder, a spring acting on said lever, and a pivot-pin adapted to the slot in the lever, all substantially as specified.

7. The combination of the needle-cylinder, the segmental guide-bar adjacent thereto, a

thread-guide adjustable on said bar, a guideoperating lever comprising a pivoted plate and a bar engaging with the cylinder and having a slot for the reception of the pivot-pin, so that it is free to slide on the plate, and a 6o spring acting on said bar, all substantially as specified.

8. The combination of a tapered needlecarrier with a head separate therefrom and with means for adjusting said head longitudinally on the carrier without turning it in respect thereto, all substantially as specified.

9. The combination of the tapered needlecylinder, the head It, free to move vertically therein and having a threaded end, a sleeve, R', threaded for adaptation to the head R, and means for confining said sleeve vertically to the cylinder and for preventing the head from turning in the cylinder, all substantially as specified.

10. The combination of the drawing-down cam, a spring connected thereto for elevating the same, a depressing-lever acting on the spring, a rib for operating said lever, and means for adjusting the rib, all substantially as set forth.

1l. The combination of the needle-carrier, needles, and thread guide with the presser, consisting of two rollers, one Ain advance of the other, a presser-carrierhungto the frame, but free to swing thereon, and means for limiting the extent of movement of the carrier, all substantially as set forth.

12. The combination of the needle-carrier, needles, and threadguide with a presser, consisting of two rollers, one in advance of the other, and an independent springsupport for each roller, as set forth.

13. The combination of the expanding rib and the rings h h', carrying the same and having studs m', means for moving said rings, anda stop pin, m, for the studs, as specified.

14. The combination of the tension-spring for the thread with the plate T, over which the thread passes, and a lever, the opposite arms of which form guides for the thread, one of said arms being adjacent to the plate T, all substantially as specified.

15. The combination of the driving-gear, the belt-shifter, and the catch therefor, withthe screw-shaft and its operating mechanism, and a nut constructed to engage with orbe released from said shaft and having a tripper, all substantialy as set forth.

16. The combination of the driving-gear of the machine, the belt-shifter and the catch therefor, the screw-shaft arranged vertically at one side of the machine, operating mechanism for said screw shaft, a nut carried by said shaft, and having a tripper and a pointer, and a gage-bar serving, in connection with the pointer, to regulate the adjustment of said nut, as set forth.

17. The combination of the tapered needlecylinder, the cam-box fitted on the surface of said tapered cylinder, cams guided in said box and free to slide in an inclined plane parallel with the surface of the tapered cylinder, a camoperating rib contained in a chamber beneath the cam-box, means whereby said rib is caused to act upon the cams, and mechanism for expanding and contracting the rib, all substantially as specified.

In testimony WhereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAML. HENSHALL. Vtnesses:

WILLIAM F. DavIs, HARRY SMITH.

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